Apparatus for raising nap on hat bodies



April 6 1926. 1,579,551

w. A. LORENZ APPARATUS FOR nusma NAP ON HAT BODIES Filed April 25. 1920Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED STATESHAT MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION vinemm.

Application filed April 23,

To all whom it may'concem: 1

1 Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. LORENZ, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forRaising Nap on Hat Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process for raising the nap on a fur hatbody. In the present art the hat body. is shrunken in the usual mannerso as to form a body having some strength.

In order to raise the na on this'hat body in order to produce a veiourshat, the hat body is usually held upon a board after being dipped in hotwater and it is scrubbed by means of a bristles brush in such a mannerthat the nap will be raised. After doing this on one side, the otherside is done. Then the hat body is opened up and folded crosswise andthe operation is continued until the proper amount of fur hasbeenraised; on the body. Then the body is dried and the nap is raised andshearedso as to remove the long ends.

The nap raising is then continued, the completed hat body is dried andthe nap is sheared to the length desired. This is a very slow and costlyoperation. It can readily be seen that to scrub the body with\ abristles brush forces the fur inwardly rather than outwardly. A peculiarmotion, however, is given to the brush so as to raise the nap. c

In the present process the hat body after being shrunken to the properdensity is placed upon a perforated cone and is held upon that cone bysuction or otherwise. Then the surface of the hat body is brushed bymeans of a bristles brush conforming to the shape of the surface of thecone either at the side or at the top, or both. These brushes areconnected to a head which is hollow and this hollow head is connected toa vacuum producing apparatus such as a vacuum pump. After wettlng thefur body and then applying the vacuum brush to the surface of the hatbody the scrubbing will .be performed and at the same time the fur'which is loosened on the hat body will be raised b means of the vacuum,which is suflicient y strong for the purpose.

In the drawings Figure 1 represe ts a side APPARATUS FOR RAISING NAP ONHAT- BODIES.

1920. Serial No. 376,075.

view of the apparatus, part of which is in section. Fig. 2 represents aplan view of the cone and Figs. 8, 4 and 5 represent the brushes whichoperate on the sides of the apparatus. The remainder of the machine,however is omitted for the sake of clear ness. In Fig. 1 the cone uponwhich the hat body-is placed is shown partly in section and partly withfur on the outside of the cone. In Fig. 2 the hat body is shown on thecone. In the drawings an upright 5 is shown having a projecting bracket6 partly shown in section, for supporting the cone table 7.

This table 7 is rotated at the desired speed, 7

which is slow; or it may be moved step by step; in the present instanceit is moved by means of a pair of bevel gears 8, one of which isattached to the shaft 9, the other bevel being attached to a shaft 10,to which 9 is made hollow at 12 and connects by means of a pipe 13 withmeans for exhausting air from the interior of the cone .15. This cone isperforated at 16 with numerous holes and a fur hat body 17 is placedupon this cone. By exhausting the air sufliciently from the interior ofthe cone the hat body wilhbe held to the cone. The invention is notlimited to the means illustrated for holding the hat body. on the cone.

A vertical pipe 20 is supported in a frame 5, and has. its lower endconnected by means of a pipe'21 with an exhausting apparatus. This pipe20 supports various instrumentalities as follows:

Above the cone 15 is placed anannular is secured a driving pulley 11.The shaft perforated ring 22, which is hollowat 23 and whose inner facepreferably may be conical. Ahot water supply pipe 24 is connected to thering 22 for admitting hot water to the ring 22 and spraying the hat bodywith this hot water at desired intervals. This spraying is preferablydone when all the brushes, to be described later, are refrom the cone.

l .(ibwnwardly around the pivots 63.

with the chamber 31 and consequently with the pipe 20 and the airexhausting means connected therewith by the pipe 21. A hand wheel 35 isattached to the screw 32 to raise and lower, and adjust the brush 33 toand A stop screw 36 serves to arrest the downward movement and positionof the brush 33, by engagement with the fiange 38 of a collar 37 whichis attached to the screw 32 as shown in Fig. 1.

Durin the wetting operation and when the hat body is removed from thecone 15 the brush 33 is elevated out of the way.

Supported by the post 20 there are shown two arms 40 and 41 whichsupport brushes 43 and 44, these brushes being supported respectively inheads 45 and 46. These heads are hollow and communicate with the hollowinterior of the pipe 20.

The third arm 50 is shown supporting the brush 51. This arm is held,upon an extension arm 52 clamped to the post 20. The arms 40 and 41 areprovided respectively with extensions 5'5 and 56, each of theseextensions being provided with adjusting screws and nuts which strikethe post 57 on the frame 5 when the brushes are adjusted in their innerposition.

Likewise the arm 50 is provided with an extension 58 and with anadjusting screw and nut, the adjusting screw being arranged to impingeagainst the post 59 on the arm Each of the three arms 40, 41 and 50 ispressed inwardly respectively by means of flat springs 60, 61 and 62,each one of which is pivoted at its lower end as at 63 in Fig. 1.

At the upper portions of each spring and bearing against the three armsnoted, there is arran ed a suitable adjusting screw and nut so t at thespring pressure exerted on the three arms can be modified as desired.

In order to swing the three arms outwardthe springs are swung outwardlyg lilld e brushes then may be removed from the fur body.

The operation of this apparatus is as follows. A fur hat body 17 isplaced upon the cone 15; the air is exhausted from the interior thereofso as to hold the hat body firmly on the cone. This cone is then rotated by means of the mechanism shown.

The three brushes 43, 44, and 51 are brought to bear upon the fur bodywith the pressure desired; hot water is introduced through the ring 23before the brushes have been positioned; then the cone is rotated andexhaust is exerted through eaehhollow ,head of the three brushes so thatduring the brushing operation the fur on the exterior of the hat bodywill be lifted whenever the hollow portion of the brush passes over thefur of the hat body. This operation of, brushing and 'raising'nap may becontinued until the desired amount of nap A has been raised.

Then the three brushes are removed from the cone; the exhaust from theinterior of the cone is released; then the fur hat body with the napraised is removed from the cone and another one is placed thereon.

It is evident that brushes similar to those shown may be manipulated byhand instead of being held in fixed arms. I prefer, however, to usefixed brushes having a curvature adapted to the shape of the cone whichvaries considerably at the top and at the bottom. Hot water may beapplied to the hat body at intervals during the nap raising process byother means than those shown.

The invention claimed is:

1. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means forexhausting air from said support sufficiently to hold the hat body uponthe support, a brush extending for a substantial distance around thesupport and conformin to the surface thereof, means for effectingrelative scrubbing movement between the brush and the support to loosenthe nap of the hat body, and means for exhausting air from the portionof the hat body covered by the brush to raise the nap loosened by thebrush.

. 2. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means forexhausting air from said support sufiiciently to hold the hat body uponthe support, brushes each extending for a substantial distance aroundthe support and conforming to the surface thereof, said brushes mountedat different elevations and at different sides of the hat body,

means for effecting relative movement be-.

tween the brushes and the support to loosen the nap of the hat body, andmeans extending to said brushes for exhausting air from the portions ofthe hat body covered by the brushes to raise the loosened nap.

3. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means forexhausting air from said support sufficiently to hold the hat body uponthe support, brushes each extending for a substantial distance aroundthe support and'conforming to the surface thereof, saidbrushes mountedat different elevations and at different sides of the hat body, meansfor effecting relative movement between the brushes and the support toloosen the nap of the hat body, means adjacent to said support forwetting the hat body thereon, said brushes being movable away from thehat body, and a vacuum head to which said brushes are connected.

4. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means forexhausting air from said support sufficiently to hold the hat body uponthe support, a brush extending for a substantial distance around thesupport and conforming to the surface thereof, a vacuum head to whichsaid .brush is connected, and means for revolving said support and thehat body thereon.

1 said support, said shaft having communicatlon with an air-exhaustlngplpe, a star 5. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support,means for exhausting air from said support sufficiently to hold the hatbody upon the support, a brush extending for a substantial distancearound the support and. conforming to the surface thereof, a vacuum headto which said brush is connected, means for revolving said support andthe hat body thereon, and means adjacent to said support for wetting thehat body thereon.

6. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means to holdthe hat hat body upon the support, a brush ex tending for a substantialdistance around the support and conforming to thesurface thereof, avacuum head to which said brush is connected, means for revolving saidsupport and the hat body thereon, and means for exhausting sufficientair from the revolv-- ing support to hold the hat body thereon.

7. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means to holdthe hat body upon the support, a brush extending for asubstantialdistance around the support and conforming to the surfacethereof, a vacuum head to which said brush is connected, means forrevolving said support and the hat body thereon, means for exhaustingsufficient air from the revolving support to hold the hat body thereon,and means adjacent to said support for wetting the hat body thereon.

8. In a nap-raising machine, the combination with a perforated supportfor a hat body, of a hollow drive shaft for rotating said support, saidshaft having communication with an air-exhausting pipe, and a stationarybrush extending partly around .said support and conforming thereto forloosening the nap on thehat body.

, 9. In a nap-raising machine, the combination with a perforated supportfor a hat body, of a hollow drive shaft for rotating tionary brushextending partly around said support and conformin thereto for looseningthe nap on the hat body, and means for wetting the hat body.

10. In a nap-raising machine, the combination with a perforated supportfor a hat body, of a hollow drive shaft for rotating said support, saidshaft having communication with an air-exhausting plpe, a stationarybrush extending partly around said support and conforming thereto forloosening the nap on the hat body, and means connected to the brush forexhausting air from the portion of the hat body covered by the brush, toraise the nap which is loosened by the brush.

11. A nap-raising apparatus comprising a coniform support, means forexhausting air from said supportsufliciently to hold' the hat body uponthe support, brushes each extending for a substantial distance aroundthe support and conforming to the surface thereof, said brushes mountedat different elevations and at different sides of the hat body, meansfor effecting relative movement bet-ween the brushes and the support toloosen the nap of the hat body, means extending to said brushes forexhausting air from the portions of the hat body covcred by the brushes,to raise the loosened nap, and a hat-wetting device in the form of aperforated hollow ring connected to a water-supply pipe and surroundingthe hat body to spray the same at intervals, said brush being movableaway from the support for the purpose of exposing the entire hat body tothe spraying operation.

12. The combination of a coniform sup-- portfor ,'a hat body, a seriesof brushes arranged one above another and at different sides of the hatbody, means for effecting relative rotation between the support and thebrushes, and a round brush for the upper portion of the hat body abovesaid side brushes, all of said brushes having a connection to an exhausthead for rasing the nap over the areas covered by the brushes.

13. The combination of a. coniform support for a hat body, a series ofbrushes arranged one above another and at different sides of the hatbody, means for elfectin relative rotation between the support am thebrushes, and a round brush for the upper portion of the 'hat-body'abovesaid side brushes, said round brush being liftable vertically from thehat body, all of said brushes having a connection to an exhaust head forraising the nap over the areascovered by the brushes.

14, The combination of a coniform sup-.

port for a hat body, a series of brushes arranged one above another andat different.

sides of the hat body, means for effecting relative rotation between thesupport and the brushes, a round brush for the top ortion of the hatbody above said side brus es, a shaft for the top brush, all of saidbrushes having a connection to an exhaust head for raising the nap overthe areas covered by the brushes, said top brush and its shaft beingliftable, and an adjustable stop to position the brush upon the hatbody.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut this 21st day of April 1920. y

' WILLIAM A. LORENZ,

